Stare
by StarShine SoBright
Summary: Conner wasn't sure when he started noticing certain aspects of Tim, but he was positive it wasn't the way your were supposed to look at your best friend. TimKon. Pre-reboot.


**Disclaimer:** Characters belong to DC.

**AN: **Unbeta'd because I don't have one. Still on a DC kick and I'm hoping it's not just a phase. Wrote this while listening to Here (in your arms) by Hellogoodbye so it's fluffy as all hell. R and R please 3

**Pairing: **TimKon

Conner wonders when he started staring at Tim so often.

He vaguely thinks he's always paid attention to his best friend more than others, but that did not explain why he'd been so attentive as of late. And why he had this urge to have some kind of contact with the Boy Wonder. And why he was absentmindedly thinking Tim's lips were a nice shape for kissing.

Conner pauses at that last thought and quickly looks away from his best friend.

Tim, the ever attentive detective, notices Conner's reaction right away. "Is something wrong?" He asks his voice in Red Robin mode. Even when the two were alone, Tim always kept to business mode when in costume.

Conner looks back. "No," he answers too quickly and he can see Tim has noticed this too. There was never any privacy when it came to Bats and Birds, even though they're full of secrets. "Seriously, it's nothing," He says with a shrug.

Tim gives him a lingering look, but decides against questioning further.

It's 1 in the morning now. Conner steps into the Titan's Kitchen to get a snack. Looking through the choices, he settles on the last slice of Ma Kent's apple pie. On the way back to his room, he takes a nice big chunk of treat and places it in his mouth when he hears vague noises. He adjusts his super hearing a bit and locates the sound-typing to be exact-coming from Tim's room. He then hears a tired sigh.

Conner knocks on the door quietly, making sure not to disturb their other teammates.

"Come in," He hears more clicks and the laptop being closed. Conner enters with his partly eaten pie slice, the fork still in his mouth.

"Hey," he muffles before pulling out the fork. "Still awake?" It's a dumb question.

"Yes," Tim doesn't offer any more information. The indication that he's tired has been wiped from his exterior, but Conner knows it's just a trick. Conner looks to Tim's eyes, which are no longer covered by that cowl, and notices the darkened bags even in the low light of the room.

"How much sleep did you get last night?"

Tim gives the other a look and answers. "3 hours."

"And the night before that?"

"2."

And before that?"

"Is this really necessary?" Tim counters.

"Sure. I like messing with you." Conner smiles cheekily and Tim rolls his eyes. "But seriously, get some sleep. Titan Tower isn't Gotham, you're allowed to go to bed."

"I'm not tired."

"Riiiight."

Tim frowns. "Okay Mom, and what do you suppose I do?"

Conner laughs. "Sleep, duh."

Tim stares as if Conner asked him to get naked. Which really wasn't a bad idea…

Conner shakes his head to get the thought out. Tim stares still, this time more inquisitively.

"Are you—" Tim tries to ask before he's quickly cut off.

"I'm fine."

"Right."

Enter an awkward pause.

Conner sighs. "How about you help me finish this pie and then we both go to bed."

Tim shrugs in acquiescence. Conner sits next to him on his bed and hold out the plate. Tim takes the fork and cuts off a nice mouthful before placing it in his mouth. Conner sees a flick of the other's tongue and averts his eyes as his thoughts go in a rather embarrassing direction. Tim nudges Conner to give him the fork.

Conner grabs it uncoordinatedly and scoops a giant piece to shove in his mouth. While he chews a few crumbs escape.

Tim stifles a laugh. Conner glares as he continues to chew and swallows forcefully, the contents barely able to go down his throat. As Conner struggles not to choke, Tim's laugh becomes more audible.

"Good to see you'll be laughing as I die from choking." Conner comments once the food is good and down.

Tim quiets his laughter. "You were fine. And you're getting crumbs on my bed." He reaches over to brush off the specks of pie crust on Conner's shirt and Conner immediately flinches away. Tim stares at Conner with a calculating face and Conner stays frozen awkwardly.

"More pie?" Conner says as he tries to relax. Tim pulls his hand away and takes the fork instead. He's still eying the other carefully, assessing his strange reaction in Robin mode. Conner only wishes he had some nice Bat-training to get him out of this mess.

They finish the last few bites in silence. Tim kept a steady eye on Conner the entire time while Conner looked anywhere but back at that piercing gaze. Tim places down the fork neatly on the plate.

"Well, that's it. You can go now." Tim says carefully, still watching thoughtfully.

Conner gets up to leave. "See you tomorrow," he says automatically as he exists. He smacks his head with his free hand, muttering about how dumb he was being and then stares at the empty plate. He supposes he should just drop it off back in the kitchen while he is still up and goes to do so.

He walks back down the hall towards his room when he is stopped again by the same typing noises. He frowns and doesn't bother knocking as he opens the door.

Tim freezes when he realizes he's been caught. Conner is glaring at him and Tim looks up innocently.

"Lair," Conner states as he walks in and closes the door behind him.

Tim quickly saves his work while he speaks. "It's importa— Hey!" Conner picks up the laptop with his TTK and closes it. Tim shoots a glare. "That's mine."

Conner places the device in his hands and inspects it. "You know, I bet I could smash this thing at only 10% strength…" He wonders out loud. Tim's jaw falls and then hardens his glare.

"Don't you dare."

"Go to bed."

"Fine." Tim crosses his arms defiantly.

"Good." Conner places the laptop down on the table and then sits down on the bed. Tim stares at him. "What?"

"Shouldn't you be going?"

"Right. And then you'll go right back to work. I aint moving." Conner kicks his feet under the covers and lies down. Tim slowly lowers himself in his bed, scooting over a bit to give the other more room on the full sized mattress, something that wasn't made to accommodate two full grown men.

"Could you turn off the lamp?" Tim says, facing the opposite direction of his bedmate. Conner doesn't answer but does as asked. "Thanks."

Conner is rigid and thinks he should have thought this through more. He can feel Tim's heat and it bothers him. They aren't even touching, but Conner knows if he just scoots an inch inward that would be easily fixed. The thought is so tempting that Conner sighs wistfully.

Tim sits up suddenly.

"Okay, you either tell me what's wrong now or I'm kicking you out." Tim states, and Conner can feel the intense stare in the dark.

"It's nothing, really!" Conner says defensively. Tim does not falter. "Seriously, stop worrying about it."

"Conner."

"Tim." Conner mimics.

Tim lays back down, this time the two are now on their backs and their sides are touching. Conner freezes.

"You know, don't you." Tim states, his voice sounding oddly sad.

"Huh?" Conner answers dumbly.

"You can leave, I won't blame you. And I'll actually go to bed."

"Again: huh?" Conner looks at Tim and his face is stone cold. But there's more to it, and Conner doesn't know how he knows, but he does. "What are you talking about?"

"The reason you're acting strange and freeze up when I touch…" Tim looks at Conner and when he sees the actual confusion he stops his train of thought. "Never mind."

"Wait, you can't just—"

"I just did."

"Tim!"

"Conner."

They're both silent for a moment as they stare at each other. And then they both begin to laugh.

After a minute of laughter, Conner speaks up. "But seriously, what were you talking about."

Tim's face goes emotionless. "I'll tell you when you tell me what's wrong."

"What? No! I asked first!" Conner whines.

Tim rolls his eyes. "No, you didn't."

"You suck." Conner retorts and sticks out his tongue.

Tim smiles. "Sure."

After a few minutes, Conner hears Tim's body fall asleep. He smiles triumphantly, knowing he's gotten one of the most stubborn people he knows to listen to him. He proceeds to silently slip out of bed until he feels a body being pressed against him and he immediately stops. Tim had rolled over and was now cuddling him.

Tim. Cuddling. Him.

His heart begins to race and he stops breathing as he stifles a squeak. He begins to chant in his mind to calm down so he doesn't wake up his friend, which takes a good few minutes.

Once calm, he checks Tim's heart rate to see if he's still asleep. Luckily, he is. And he can't help but wonder whether this situation is a curse or a blessing.

Upon seeing Tim's calm face in the moonlight, he's positive it's a blessing.

Really, when did he start seeing Tim in such a non-friend way? Last he checked, Cassie was the one he liked and Tim was his best friend. Then again, you don't exactly have a sex dream about your best friend.

Okay, maybe two sex dreams.

Or a handful.

He hopes he doesn't have one tonight, even though he was sure he was. He pictured how awkward it would be when he woke up and he almost groaned out loud.

He quickly looked back to Tim to make sure he was still sleeping and pair of blue eyes was staring at him calculatingly. And Conner's hand was mindlessly threading itself in Tim's hair. When had that traitor gotten there?

"Uh…hi." Conner said, his voice cracking a bit. "You're supposed to be asleep."

"Well, I'm not." Tim replies plainly.

"And how long have you been awake?" Conner ventures to ask.

"I never went to bed."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

And they had officially hit the quota for most awkward silences.

Tim is still snuggled against Conner chest and Conner's arm is still rested behind Tim's head and in mid stroke. They're both staring, frozen.

"This isn't what it looks like." Conner pipes up with his words coming out Bart-speed.

Tim raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really."

"Then what is it?" Tim asks, and Conner opens his mouth to say something, finds no words coming out, and closes it. "Good answer." Tim quips.

"You cuddled—" Conner shouts before Tim places a fingers against his own lips to tell him to quiet down, "—into me first!" He continues with a whisper.

"I did." Tim agrees his face expressionless. Again, he only gives the minimal information.

"Well? Why?" Conner asks, slightly irritated with how emotionless Tim is being.

Tim takes a moment to choose his words carefully, and Conner knows he's not going to get the answer. "Why have you been acting strangely?"

Conner groans and throws his head back. "You have got to be the king of dodging questions."

"You've been dodging mine quite well yourself."

Conner slants his eyes at Tim. When he does he notices they're still in that rather compromising position, which Tim had done consciously, and neither of them seemed to be moving anytime soon.

Conner sighs. "Fine." Tim stares at him expectantly as Conner struggles to find the best way to word whatever he had been feeling lately. "I think, I mean, I might or do…uh…yeah."

"That's not even a full thought."

"Shut up. This is hard!"

"Go on."

Conner gulps. "You know what?" Conner pulls his arm away from around Tim and begins to slip out of bed. "Why don't you just go back to your computer and I'll just get goi—argh!"

Tim had reacted instinctively and captured the bigger boy. He slammed him back down on the bed. He was now straddling him, making sure to keep him pinned down. Tim was still calm, his eyes barring down straight into Conner's.

"Keep going." Tim commands.

"I like you." Conner blurts out like word vomit. He immediately clamps down his mouth and is staring at Tim nervously.

And suddenly, Tim is smiling. "Good." Conner's mouth is still hard when Tim brushes his lips against his. It takes him a total of 3 seconds before he realizes what Tim is doing and the possible reason behind it. His lips soften and he's kissing Tim back.

Their kisses become deeper and more frantic as Tim releases Conner from his hold and Conner is now running his hands along Tim's back, pulling him in closer. Tongues and teeth get mixed into the fray and their engaged in a full blown make out session.

After some time, they both pull back, breathing heavily. Tim is sitting in Conner lap but is starting to slouch. Conner remembers why he was in this bed in the first place, even though his hardening erection is protesting the idea.

"You should really get some sleep."

This time, Tim doesn't argue. He slowly rolls off Conner's lap and lies back down in the bed. This time they both scoot into each other, Conner's arm draped over Tim's waist while Tim nuzzles into Conner's broad chest.

"Hey Tim?" He whispers softly, checking to see if he was awake. He still had so many questions. Unfortunately, Tim had finally fallen into a much needed slumber.

Well, at least one of them would get some sleep tonight. He buries his own face into Tim's hair, hoping he'd fall asleep, despite his racing thoughts.

"HeyTimdoyou—." Conner opens his eyes to see Bart still, a phenomenon in itself, and freezes as he remembers the intimate position that he and Tim are in. Bart is gone a moment later and soon Cassie's voice is heard: "Tim and Kon are what?"

"I'm never sleeping with you again." Tim comments in a groggy voice as he unlodges himself from Conner's side. Conner is about to protest when Tim continues. "You're too comfy."

"You act like that's a bad thing," Conner replies as he pushes himself up and stretches his body.

"It is when you need to be up first."

"What you needed was sleep. Which I provided. Mission occomplished." Conner is smirking. Tim is rolling his eyes as he maneuvers off the bed. He pulls out the basic suit of his Red Robin outfit and gives Conner a look.

"Okay okay, I'm going." Conner holds his hands up in surrender and steps out of the room. He glances back one more time and wonders if he should have given Tim a good morning kiss. Where they dating now? Or was Tim just delirious from lack of sleep? Conner hoped it was the first. He yawns.

He heads back to his room and wastes as much time as possible before his stomach protests and he knows he's going to have to face everyone sooner or later. It isn't them he's worried about though. He's scared Tim will think it was all a big mistake and then their alone time, if they have any, will be filled with those awkward silences.

He hears Rose talking as he walks in.

"You know, if you two ever need to spice up the bedroom anytime, I'm not opposed to a threesome," She's smirking and leaning over the counter to Tim. "I have plenty of stamina to keep up with you two."

Tim is keeping a straight face as usual while Cassie is scolding Rose.

Gar waves enthusiastically at Conner. All but Tim turn to see him.

"Howlonghaveyoutwobeentogether?" Bart asks as he zips by. Conner doesn't know how to answer and luckily Cassie interjects before the spotlight is too much to bear.

"Leave them alone guys," she looks to Tim and they seem to have a silent conversation before she looks at Conner. "Anyways, I need a sparring partner. Care to join me?"

Conner nods slowly. She tosses him a banana and leads them out of the room. Tim is left to fend for himself against the wolves, but Conner doubts he'll have any issues keeping them at bay.

The banana is gone within 3 bites and as soon as they are far enough from the others, Cassie speaks up.

"I'm happy for you guys." She states with her back to Conner. And suddenly Conner feels guilty.

"Cassie, I—"

"Don't apologize." She turns around and she's smiling, although there's a hint of sadness. "I love you both so much." Conner can see the tears welling up, but she's doing her best to keep them down.

He pulls her into a hug and she burries her faces and begins to cry.

"I think I've always known it would end up like this. I've known he loved you ever since you died." She says with her words muffled in his shirt.

Conner raises an eyebrow. "Wait, he loves me?"

Cassie pulls back, her tears stopped and stares up at Conner. "I thought… you knew. I mean, Bart said you were… And… Oh." She clamps her mouth shut. "Let's pretend I never said anything."

Conner frowns. "Like I could. Now I need to go take care of something. Think you can keep yourself busy for a moment?" Cassie nods and Conner is super speeding down the hall till he's standing right next to Tim.

"You love me?" Conner asks, forgetting there are others present.

Tim is calm and collected as he stands up and pulls Conner aside. Rose and Gar are making catcalls as they exit to a more private area.

"Do you love me?" Conner asks again, this time slightly unsure of himself.

Tim sighs and rubs his temples. "Cassie said something, didn't she?"

"That wasn't what I asked." Conner is slightly irritated. He'd had hoped Tim would for once in his life give him a straight answer.

Tim looks up into Conner's eyes and Conner wonders how he's never notice before. "Yes Conner."

Conner feels his heart race and he's sure he's got the goofiest smile plastered on his face. He scoops Tim up in a hug and kisses him messily on the mouth.

"Are you done now?" Tim says, feigning annoyance to cover the embarrassment.

Conner grins cheekily. "For now." A moment later he's drops Tim off in the kitchen before he speeds off. He returns a second later, planting another kiss on the unsuspecting boy's lips before he runs back to Cassie. He's positive Tim is being bombarded by questions again, and laughs.

Cassie is giving Conner a worried look which is quickly relieved when she notices Conner in the happiest mood he's been in since he found out he was part Luthor.

"I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked, Superboy." She boasts as they enter the training room.

"You're on, Wonder Girl."

Conner doesn't know when he started staring at Tim so much. But he's sure glad he did.


End file.
